Communicable Disease Control and Prevention
The Public Health staff surveils for reportable communicable diseases and outbreaks in Roosevelt County. Once identified, investigation and reporting take place, as well as application of the appropriate measures to control the disease.
Anyone with knowledge of a reportable condition can report to the Health Department. The department is on call 24 hours a day to receive emergency communicable disease reports.
We coordinate testing, treatment, and partner follow-up for STD’s, as well as offer confidential rapid HIV testing.
Communicable diseases are defined as diseases that can pass from person to person or animal to person.
What communicable disease nurses do:
- Surveillance monitoring for either the single case of some communicable diseases or for increases of disease activity over time
- Investigate the case of disease to try to answer questions:
- Where Did the disease come from?
- How was it transferred?
- Who was exposed?
- Mitigate further disease
- Plan for future communicable disease pandemics, endemics
- Plan and execute public health safety measures
Sexually transmitted diseases (STIs), also known as sexually transmitted infections or STIs, are very common. More than 75 new infections are recorded in Montana every week.
STIs are passed from one person to another through sexual activity including vaginal, oral, and anal sex. They can also be passed from one person to another through intimate physical contact, such as heavy petting, though this is not
very common.
Many people with an STI don’t know it, because they often have no symptoms. Are you having sex? Go to GetTested.MT.gov to find a private, confidential, and free or low cost testing location near you. If you are diagnosed with an STI,
know that all can be treated with medicine and some can be cured entirely.
STIs are preventable. If you have sex, know how to protect yourself and your sexual partner from STIs.
You can visit
https://dphhs.mt.gov/publichealth/hivstd/stdprevention/index for more information.